


The Unstoppable Force

by thewrinkleintime



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, Infidelity, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-29
Updated: 2015-03-29
Packaged: 2018-03-20 07:16:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3641469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewrinkleintime/pseuds/thewrinkleintime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Derek wakes up to his alarm blaring, sun warm on his exposed skin, and a huge smile on his face. He turns off the alarm and rolls over. He's getting married today."<br/>This is an Imagine Me and You Sterek AU, though you do not need to have seen the movie to understand anything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I just searched the archive and found out that this AU has been done before, but I didn't know that when I was writing it *shrugs*.  
> I couldn't find a way to work in the 'am I gay? I'm ecstatic!' line, which is probably my favorite line from any movie ever, but this pretty closely follows the plot of the movie, with some changes.  
> Many thanks to [xydiamartin](http://xydiamartin.tumblr.com/) for being my beta reader. All remaining mistakes are my own.

Derek wakes up to his alarm blaring, sun warm on his exposed skin, and a huge smile on his face. He turns off the alarm and rolls over. He's getting married today. Usually he is out of bed the second he wakes up, but today he takes a moment to just lay there and think about the day ahead.

He's putting on his suit when he hears his mother and sister let themselves into the apartment.

"Derek!" Cora yells, running up to him and wrapping her arms around his middle. "Hi!"

"Hey, how's my favorite sister?"

"I'm your only sister."

"But you're still my favorite."

Cora grins. "When do fish sleep?" she asks, arms still around Derek. Cora had been a surprise baby, and the age gap between her and Derek sometimes made him feel more like her parent than sibling, but he loved her just the same.

"You know, I have no idea."

Cora accepts this with a serious expression that looks out of place on her young face. She pulls out a notebook and writes something down. She plops down on his sofa with her notepad and Derek knows she'll be content for a while.

"How are you?" his mother asks, pouring herself a cup of the coffee Derek had just made.

"Good. Really good."

"Excited? Nervous?"

"Both."

Talia hands Derek a mug and he takes a sip, reflecting on his life with Jennifer. He and Jennifer have been together for five years now, and have stood watching as all their friends got married and started having kids. It may have taken Derek and Jennifer a bit longer to get with it, but they're here. Maybe he has trouble showing it sometimes, but he really couldn't be happier.

| |

Stiles lifts a bunch of flowers into his van. The back is packed with buckets of different arrangements. Scott leans against the shop window, a Twizzler dangling from his mouth.

"When are you going to get a love life Stiles? All these weddings . . . ." He trails off when Stiles gives him a look.

"I don't need a love life. I have a like life and I enjoy it just fine."

"Okay, okay." He munches on his Twizzler for a minute before asking Stiles who the couple are.

"Derek and Jennifer--haven't met either of them though. The groom's mother came in to order the flowers."  Stiles doesn't think he will be forgetting her anytime soon, she was a force to be reckoned with.

Scott still looks like he wants to discuss Stiles' stunningly boring love life, so Stiles heads back inside to get the last bunch of flowers. He's perfectly aware that he hasn't been with anyone in a long time, but he doesn't think this is necessarily a bad thing. He doesn't want to be in a relationship just to say he's in a relationship, he wants it to mean something. Scott has already found such a relationship, and is happily living with Allison. Stiles tries not to be envious.

He loads the flowers into the van and promises Scott to have lunch with him the next day.

| |

Jennifer is standing with Jackson, watching guests arrive and listening as Jackson makes discourteous comments about the people he isn't fond of, which happens to be most of them.

Cora tugs on her dress, ignoring a reproving remark from Talia.

"What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?"

"I haven't the faintest clue." She thinks about sending Cora off to find Derek, as he is usually better with her questions.

 _"_ It never happens," says a voice from behind her. She turns around to see a smartly dressed man smiling at Cora.  "If there’s a thing that can’t be stopped, it’s not possible for there to be something else which can’t be moved, and vice versa. They can’t both exist. It's a trick question."

Cora thinks about this.

"I'm Stiles by the way," he says, extending a hand to Jennifer. "I did your flowers."

"Can I sit with him?" Cora asks Talia.

"Why not," Talia says.

Cora leads Stiles away, asking him questions along as they go.

| |

Derek watches the church doors, waiting for Jennifer. He's got this irrational idea that she isn't going to appear, that she's changed her mind and he'll be up here at the altar all alone.

"She's going to come, right?" he asks Jackson.

"Of course she's coming."

"When? When is she coming?"

Suddenly he sees someone out of the corner of his eye. A man is standing up, saying something to Cora, and moving to the other side of the pew. He looks up and they share a moment of oddly intense eye contact before Derek looks back to the church doors. When he glances over again the man is gone. Derek feels strangely bereft. He's still thinking about the man when Jackson interrupts his reverie.

"I think Lydia likes me."

"Who?" Derek asks distractedly.

"You know, Lydia."

"Can we focus on me?" Derek asks,  "It is my wedding day."

"Do you think she likes me?"

Derek sighs.

| |

Derek is staring forlornly into the giant punch bowl which now contains, somewhere in its vastness and among the floating fruit, his wedding ring.

Someone reaches for a cup and Derek looks up to see the man from earlier.

"I wouldn't, if I were you," he says.

"Something wrong with the punch?"

"My wedding ring is in there."

"And you tried the ladle?"

Derek nods. He gave up on that several minutes ago.

"Well, there's only one thing to do then," the man says, and rolls up his sleeves.

Derek tries to stop him but the man just smiles and reaches his hand into the punch bowl. It doesn't take long before he finds the ring. Derek accepts the wet ring and slides it back onto his finger. As he is doing so Jennifer's boss, Harris, claps him on the shoulder.

"I'm very happy for you two," he says. Derek very much doubts this, as Jennifer's boss is notoriously rude and unpleasant, but he thanks him anyways.

"And who is this?" Harris asks.

"Stiles," the other man says, reaching out to grasp Harris' hand in a very wet handshake. "I did the flowers."

Harris looks at his now punch-covered hand and makes a face. He turns around without saying anything else, but Derek doesn't have it in him to care.

"So, you did the flowers?" Derek asks Stiles.

"Yep."

"They're nice."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, I do."

Stiles beams.

| |

"And here we were, thinking these two would never tie the knot. Better late than never I guess," Jackson says. He's making his best man speech, and Derek is wishing that he had talked it over more thoroughly before agreeing.  So far Jackson has made three innuendos, two vaguely sexist remarks, and numerous flirtatious comments to the bridesmaids, Lydia in particular. Derek isn't too worried about the last bit, because if Jackson tries anything shady with Lydia she'll most likely gut him and then hang his entrails up for the rest of the world to see.

When Jackson is done there's a faint smattering of applause, and Derek is handed the mic.

Looking at all the people sitting and waiting for him to say something makes him freeze. For one horrible moment he is sure he has made an error, that this was all a big mistake and he should never have said yes when Jennifer proposed to him. Then Jennifer stands up and takes the mic.

"Hi everyone, I'm Derek," Jennifer says, and the guests laugh. Derek feels immense relief. "I'm here today because I am in love, and after years of being in love I finally agreed to do something about it." The guests laugh again.  "Okay now it's just me."  Derek listens as she talks about how they met, how they've built a life together these last five years, and how she hopes to continue building that life for 50 more.

The guests applaud and Jennifer sits down.

"Thank you," Derek says to her.

"It's fine."

Derek thinks it's probably not, but he also doesn't want to talk about it here. He knows Jennifer has to be tired of taking the reins, that after five years maybe she wants him to make a decision, to do something proactive, instead of just reacting to her. He also knows that they have had this conversation before, and each time they have it nothing gets completely resolved. Derek promises to try harder, and Jennifer tries to lower her expectations so they can meet somewhere in the middle.

Derek and Jennifer take the first dance, after which Cora asks to dance with Derek. She puts her feet on his shoes and they stumble around together for a bit, laughing. Derek catches Jennifer's eye; she's smiling softly. Derek knows he's already been forgiven.

| |

Stiles gets ready for bed and tries not to think about how happy Derek and Jennifer looked. He wants that, wants someone to share his life with, someone other than Scott and Allison. Scott says Stiles doesn't put himself out there enough, that if he tried harder to meet people maybe he'd find the one. Stiles' parents had been perfect for each other. When his mother died it had devastated his father. The Sheriff wasn't ever really the same after that. Stiles isn't so much afraid of never finding his other half, he's afraid that he'll lose them like his father lost his mother.

He gets into bed and tries to convince himself that he's okay.


	2. Chapter 2

Derek stands just inside the door of the flower shop, watching while Stiles tries to find something for a man who "really fucked it up this time" and says he needs a last chance flower. The man turns to Derek and asks him what his favorite flower is.

"I don't know," Derek says, "I think I like lilies."

The man considers this for a moment. "No, they're wrong." Eventually the guy leaves, having chosen a cactus.

"What can I do for you?" Stiles asks.

"I wanted to thank you again. The flowers really were fantastic."

"I'm glad you liked them." A tinge of red has appeared on Stiles' cheeks. It suits him.

"I also wanted to know if you'd like to come to dinner with Jennifer and I," Derek says, rather nervously.

Stiles looks a little taken aback at the offer, but quickly recovers.

"I'd love to." 

"This Friday?"

"Sure, why not."

Derek jots down his address and phone number for Stiles. He walks away from the shop grinning.

| |

Jennifer is working on something on her laptop, and has been for over an hour. Derek was trying to read, but has spent the last ten minutes staring at the same paragraph as he thinks about Stiles.

"Have you ever met someone," he asks Jennifer, "and right away you knew that you were going to be friends?"

"Who are you talking about?" She looks up from her computer.

"Stiles. I just feel like I know him from somewhere."

"Hm. Can't say I've ever had that."

| |

Derek doesn't know what to wear. He's tried on three different shirts and none seem to be right. Stiles is coming over for dinner later, and there's something in Derek that wants to impress him. He holds up the blue button down. No, not that one either.

He hears the door open and Jennifer call out hello. Derek yells back and hastily selects the green henley. He doesn't want Jennifer to see him panicking, she'll think he's being ridiculous.

| |

Stiles walks over to Derek's place after closing up the shop for the day. He's brought lilies with him, remembering Derek's comment about his favorite flower, and hopes that it isn't too much.

He hasn't spent much time with Derek so far, but what time they have had together has shown Derek to be kind, thoughtful, and caring. He clearly loves his family, particularly Cora, and quite frankly it's adorable.

Stiles stands on the front steps and takes a deep breath. He hasn't felt this nervous since he went on his first date. He tells himself that this is just a dinner, and there is no reason for him to be so anxious. He just wants to be friends with Derek, that's all.

| |

The doorbell rings and Derek rushes to get it. He opens it to see Stiles, holding a bunch of flowers and looking really good in his plaid shirt and dark jeans.

"You brought lilies."

Stiles hands them to him, and Derek stands there for a moment, beaming. Then he remembers that Stiles is a guest.

"Right, come in, sorry."

Derek feels like he's fumbling here, like this is something important and he has to get it right. He's not sure what that means just yet.

"Do you believe in reincarnation?" Jennifer asks Stiles, once they've gotten the flowers into some water.

"Why do you ask?" Stiles says.

"It's just that Derek here thought you guys had met before."

Derek tries to protest. "That's not really what--"

"I would have remembered," Stiles says, looking at Derek intensely.

Derek doesn't say anything at first, he's too busy staring. There's something about Stiles that lights him up in a way that Jennifer never has, despite the fact that they barely know each other. It's a dangerous feeling. Derek wants to soak himself in it.

Dinner goes smoothly until Derek asks Jennifer and Stiles if they believe in love at first sight. It's something he had been talking about with his coworkers earlier that day, and they both said no. Derek was inclined to agree with them.

"I think it takes time," Jennifer says. "I don't think you always know, not at first. But you hang in there and give it a chance."

Derek is about to second her statement when Stiles says _,_ "I think you know immediately. As soon as your eyes meet . . . then everything that happens from then on just proves that you had been right in that first moment. When you suddenly realize that you were incomplete and now you are whole."

"Actually I think I'm with him," Jennifer says, before getting up to start clearing the plates.

"But what if you don't have all that, what about everyone who doesn't fall in love at first sight, are they just settling for less?" Derek asks, strangely adamant about this. He doesn't want to think that marrying Jennifer means he was settling.

"That's not what I said," Stiles starts, but Jennifer interrupts them with dessert, and the conversation is dropped.

| |

"I had a good time tonight," Stiles says when Derek sees him out.

"Me too, thanks for coming."

There's a long moment where neither of them speak and Derek is reminded of the first time he saw Stiles in the church. His face starts to flush.

"We'll have to do it again, maybe with someone else cooking," Derek says, hoping Stiles doesn't notice how flustered he is.

"I make some pretty good pierogies."   

| |

Derek and Stiles meet up again the next week; there's a local music festival Derek wants to attend, but Jennifer is busy with work and can't go. The week after that it's a new restaurant Stiles had heard about from Scott. Somewhere between rock climbing and book readings something significant changes.

There's an exhibition at the local gallery featuring Clive Barker's work that Stiles has dragged Derek to, and he's staring at a painting of screaming faces when he realizes something: he has enjoyed these last few months with Stiles more than he has the last five years with Jennifer. And it's not just that, at some point Derek had started talking to Stiles instead of Jennifer. It was Stiles he went to when he had trouble at work. It was Stiles he went to when he got news that his favorite aunt had died. It was Stiles he thought about when something funny happened.

"Everything okay?" Stiles asks, startling Derek.  "You've been staring at that painting for a long time."

"Everything's fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, just tired is all."

Stiles isn't looking very convinced, but he doesn't push the subject. Derek turns back to the painting, thoughts returning to Stiles. He lets out a shaky breath. He had forgotten what it was like to be newly in love.

| |

"Dude, you're so totally in love," Scott says one day while he's hanging out at the shop. Allison went to pick up some Chinese, so it's just the two of them in the back room.

"What are you talking about?" Stiles asks, feigning ignorance. He focuses on the bookkeeping that he's trying to do.

"You know what I'm talking about. Derek. You talk about him all the time."

"We're friends, that's all."

Scott looks at him for a moment. "But you don't want to be just friends. You haven't been this in love since college, when you were pining after that philosophy major who used too much hair gel."

Stiles gives up trying to work. "Okay, you're right, I'm in love with him. But I'm not going to do anything about it. It would be completely inappropriate for me to try and start anything. I don't want to get in the way of his marriage. And even if I were going to do something, he's straight."

Scott gives him a meaningful look.

"What?" Stiles asks.

"I've seen the way he looks at you, that's all."

Stiles feels a bit of hope unfurl before he stamps it out. He can't be the one to start something between them. If Derek wants a relationship he'll have to make the first move.

Luckily Allison returns just then and Stiles is saved from having to respond. Stiles spends the rest of his lunch break trying not to think about Derek. He mostly fails.

| |

Jennifer had to leave on a business trip and Derek's been home alone every evening this week. He and Jackson go out for drinks one night, but Derek leaves after 2 beers, tired and not in the mood for bar conversation. He calls Stiles when he gets home, just to see what he's doing. They talk for a while, about the new project Stiles has started, about Derek's annoying coworkers, about a movie that's just been released. Stiles suggests they go and see it the next day. When Derek hangs up the phone he's feeling a thousand times better.

| |

Derek spends the entire movie hyper aware of the fact that Stiles' leg is touching his. Stiles doesn't move, and Derek feels the contact like a burn.

Derek doesn't want the movie to end, he doesn't want Stiles to stand up. It does end, and Stiles does get up, and Derek is left feeling like he just lost something.

The theater has an arcade attached to it, and Stiles challenges Derek to beat him at Dance Dance Revolution. Derek objects on the grounds that he doesn't want to.

"Come on, you'll have fun, I promise," Stiles pleads, giving him his best puppy eyes.

Derek folds.

Stiles wins, which is no surprise, but Derek ends up sweaty and laughing and thinking that he hasn't had this much fun in ages.

"What does the lily mean?" Derek asks Stiles as they walk back to Derek's apartment.

"Don't ask me about the lily," Stiles says, but Derek can tell he is only teasing. "Ask me about the azalea."

"Okay, what about the azalea?"

"It means 'may you have financial security.'"

"That's boring."

Stiles agrees.

"What does the lily mean?"

Stiles smiles at him. "The lily means I dare you to love me." He dashes across the street.

Something like hope blooms in his chest. Derek crosses the street, disappointed that they are back already.

He has an idea, and he knows it's not a good one, but he doesn't care. He walks up to Stiles, drawing him close, hands sliding over his hips. The light above the door casts Stiles in a soft glow, and Derek spends a few seconds just looking at him before pressing Stiles back into the door. The heat from Stiles' body is searing, their shared breath warm. Derek's lips have barely made contact with Stiles' when a car horn blasts, and he jumps back.

He can't do this. What is he thinking? He runs a hand through his hair, sighing.

"I'm sorry," Derek says.

Stiles seems disappointed, but doesn't say anything. Derek tries not to think about it as he says goodnight and then steps inside, every molecule of his body burning to turn around and kiss Stiles until neither of them can breathe. But he doesn't. He goes inside and gets ready for bed. He doesn't undress though, he just sits on the edge of the bed feeling lost.

| |

Stiles doesn't go home, not right away. He walks around the city thinking. He can still feel Derek's hands on his hips, firm and sure. Stiles curses the stupid car horn. Derek wants him, that much is plain. But is he willing to act on that feeling? Or will he feel obligated to remain just friends, out of respect for Jennifer and their marriage? Stiles hopes it's the former.

| |

The morning light shines through Derek's open window, waking him gently. He thinks about the previous night, how he almost kissed Stiles. He brings his fingers to his lips and wonders what Stiles would have tasted like.

He gets dressed, knowing what he has to do and hating that he has to do it.


	3. Chapter 3

Derek walks into Stiles' shop determined to say his bit and leave.

"Hey Derek," Stiles says, looking pleased to see him.

"No, no, you can't be happy to see me."

"What are you talking about?"

"I can't do this, Stiles."

"Do what?" Stiles looks wary.

"Whatever this is. I just can't. It's over."

Silence. Stiles' face falls and he goes into the back room without saying anything. Derek's chest hurts. He leaves, despair rising in his throat like bile.

He makes it all the way to the corner before he turns back. He goes into the back room, surprising Stiles. Stiles tries to say something but Derek takes his face in his hands and cuts him off with a kiss, hesitant and slow, until Stiles kisses back with enthusiasm. God his lips are soft, Derek thinks. He wants this so badly. He opens his mouth and is rewarded with Stiles' tongue, teasing and warm. Stiles' hands run over Derek's chest, and he pushes him back into a chair. Derek's heart pounds a fierce beat. The room seems hotter than usual. Stiles straddles his lap, kissing a line down his neck, mouth open and wet. He bites gently at the juncture of neck and shoulder and Derek shudders. He doesn't want it to ever stop. He's flushed and on fire and he can feel every point of contact between him and Stiles.

Stiles is working on unbuttoning Derek's shirt when they hear the bell chime. The noise is like a splash of cold water and he remembers where they are.

"I'll be right back," Stiles whispers, lips soft against his jaw. Stiles rises and Derek mourns the loss of Stiles' body, warm and heavy against his own.

Derek can hear Stiles talk to the customer, and it only takes a moment before he realizes that it's Jennifer.

"Can you make me something for Derek?"

"Sure." Derek can hear the shakiness in Stiles' voice.

"It's just that he's been a bit distant, I'm worried I've done something wrong."

"You should be telling him that, not me."

"I can't ask him if something's wrong."

"Why not?"

"What if there is?"

Derek can't listen any longer. He makes his way to the back door quietly, then runs as soon as he's outside.

He knew he wasn't being himself, he knew that this thing with Stiles had changed his relationship with Jennifer, but he didn't like to think that he'd hurt her.

Derek is two streets up when he hears Stiles shouting behind him.

"Derek! Derek, wait!"

"You heard her Stiles, I can't do this! I'm sitting there listening and she blames herself."

Derek has stopped running, and now they're both out of breath. It doesn't make what Stiles says next any easier.

"You can stop this, Derek, tell me to go and you won't ever see me again."

Derek falters. Stiles hasn't been in his life that long, not compared to Jennifer, but he can't imagine going on without him.

"Is that what you want?" he asks.

"I want you," Stiles says, voice strong with conviction.

"I can't--"

"I know."

Derek looks at Stiles and tries not to cry.

"I wish--"

"I know."

Derek wipes a hand across his cheek.

"Don't forget me," Stiles says softly, walking away.

Derek doubts he will remember much else.

| |

Jennifer gets home from work the next day and passes out on the couch from exhaustion. Derek does a load of laundry and washes the dishes. He's stalling, and he knows it, but he doesn't want to do this. When he's done with the dishes he quietly comes around to the couch. Jennifer is asleep, but he needs to say this.

"I met someone. I didn't mean to, it just happened. We haven't . . . and I'm not going to, I promise."  Jennifer is beautiful, and smart and he loves her, or at least he used to. Why couldn't she have been enough? "It's over, anyways, not that there was much to begin with, but it's done."

Derek sighs and heads to bed. He doesn't see Jennifer open her eyes.

| |

"You're really going to leave?" Scott asked, looking concerned.

"I need to get away for a while," Stiles says, stuffing his favorite red sweatshirt into his suitcase.

"I don't think you should have given up on Derek so fast."

"You weren't there, you didn't see how upset he was about Jennifer. I can't get in the way of them, not when it will only cause pain." Stiles wishes things could be different, wishes that Derek had never married Jennifer, that he had met Derek at a different point in his life, that he and Derek could be together. But that's not his reality, and he has to deal with what is real. And that means letting Derek go. As much as it hurts to be doing this, Stiles knows he's making the right choice.

| |

They celebrate Derek's birthday at his mother's house with Cora. It's tense, and Talia keeps looking at Derek and Jennifer, but she doesn't say anything.

They're eating the cake, mostly in awkward silence, when Cora speaks up.

"Stiles was going to bring me to the park tomorrow, but since he's leaving can you bring me?" she asks Derek.

"He's leaving?" Derek says, shocked.

"He's going out of the country," Cora says, oblivious to Derek's reaction.

"He didn't tell me."

"I don't think he planned it. Can I go read now?"

"Sure honey," Talia says.

"Why didn't he mention it?" Derek asks, mostly to himself.

Jennifer pushes her chair back with a screech.

"I can't do this." She grabs her bag and walks out, shutting the door softly behind her. Derek thinks that's probably worse than slamming it.

"Go fix it," Talia tells him. Derek doesn't think this can be fixed, but his mother doesn't know that, she doesn't know anything, so he follows after Jennifer.

She's standing in the driveway looking more sad than angry. The sunlight is harsh and Derek squints his eyes to see her.

"I'm sorry," Derek tries, but Jennifer cuts him off.

"I know about Stiles," she says.

Derek wants to say something but he decides to let her talk.

"Neither of us are happy right now, and I want you to be happy. More than anything, I wanted to be the cause of happiness in you. But if I’m not, then I can’t stand in the way. Because what you’re feeling is the unstoppable force, which means I have to move."

"I don't know what to say." Derek is at a loss. He wasn't sure how things were going to work out with Jennifer, but part of him always thought that they would; they'd been together so long that separating seemed unthinkable. But Jennifer is giving him an out, giving him a chance to walk away now. He's grateful for it, though it still hurts to see her so sad.

She hugs him tightly.

"I'll stay with Lydia for the next week or so, while I look for an apartment. We'll talk more later."

Derek nods. Jennifer gets into her car.

Derek heads back inside, knowing his mother is going to have questions.

| |

Talia hands Derek a mug of tea. The cake was still on the table.

"Explain," his mother says, and then he's telling her everything.

"I met someone. I fell in love and it wasn't with Jennifer."

"Does this woman have a name?" Talia's face is carefully schooled into a neutral expression and Derek has no idea what she's thinking.

"His name is Stiles."

Talia looks surprised.

He tells her about the last few months, about the movies they've seen, the long phone calls they've had, and the warmth that Derek feels every time he thinks about Stiles.

"It doesn't matter though, it's over. And anyways he's leaving the country."

Talia seems to think about this for a moment.

"I think you shouldn't give up so easily. If things with Jennifer are done, then what's stopping you from being with Stiles?"

Derek hesitates. "How long do you think it takes to get to Stiles' shop from here?"

"I'll drive."

| |

Derek runs into the flower shop, not caring that people are staring.

"Where's Stiles?" He looks around wildly. Scott is behind the counter, a knowing look on his face. "Please."

Scott tells him that Stiles is on his way to the airport; he's leaving the shop in Scott's hands while he's gone. Derek asks him what flight he's on, thanks him, and quickly runs back to the car.

"We need to go to the airport."

| |

Derek is looking at the flight listings, trying to figure out where Stiles is going to board his flight. He breaks into a run when he realizes that Stiles' flight is currently boarding.

Stiles is still in line when Derek finds him.

"Stiles!" Derek shouts, ignoring the looks people are giving him.

Stiles turns around. Derek runs up to him, thanking various deities that he caught him in time.

"What are you doing here Derek?"

"Don't leave. Please, don't leave."

"We're over, remember? Why should I stay?" Stiles asks, but not with malice. He's looking at Derek like he's never met him, like Derek is just some guy, and it kills him to know that he's done this, this is his fault.

"Because things are over with Jennifer. Because I want to give this a shot. Because . . . Because I love you."

Stiles' face abruptly changes with the last sentence. He surges forward and pulls Derek into a kiss. Derek keeps his eyes open, wanting to see as much of Stiles as he can. Stiles is gripping Derek's arms so tightly it's almost painful, but Derek doesn't care. He cups Stiles' face with his hands and kisses back, slow and sure.

"I love you too," Stiles whispers against his lips. Derek feels like he could kiss Stiles forever, but he pulls back before they get carried away.

"So you'll stay?" Derek asks, just to be sure.

"I'll stay."

Derek's heart soars as he pulls Stiles into a tight hug. Stiles' arms are strong around Derek and he thinks he might just die from the pure happiness that is flowing through him.

| |

Derek watches Stiles work in the back room of the shop. Stiles is wearing an elegantly cut tuxedo, all long lines and sharp features. He catches Derek staring at him and sets down the arrangement he was fiddling with.

"What do you think?" Stiles asks.

"I think you look amazing," Derek pulls him into a kiss. "Absolutely edible."

"I meant the flowers," Stiles says, smiling against Derek's mouth.

"Oh those, they look good too. Now come on, we don't want to be late for our own wedding."


End file.
